National Champions | COD:Warzone Duos Claim NJCAAe Title

CONTACT: Adam Sopris, a.sopris@hvcc.edu, 518-629-7898 or 518-416-2137
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Friday, April 30, 2021

The Hudson Valley Community College eSports program claimed its first NJCAAe National Championship in its first year of competition. The Vikings Call of Duty - Warzone duo team of Elijah Harris (Schenectady/Mohonasen) and Ryan Closson (Ballston Spa/Ballston Spa) defeated Northeastern Technical College 3-1 in the best-of-three championship series on Friday night. 

The Vikings eSports program kicked off its inaugural year in September 2020, competing nationally through the National Junior College Athletic Association eSports (NJCAAe), the governing body for eSports for two-year colleges.

"Congratulations to Coach Bob Stranahan and the whole team on a successful first season", said Justin Hoyt, Hudson Valley Director of Athletics. "I'm proud of the way our student-athletes competed all year and ending with a National Championship is truly remarkable. I'm excited for the future of our eSports program."

Hudson Valley and the No. 2 ranked Northeastern Technical College (NETC Team 1) teams went back and forth, alternating wins in the first three matches, with the Vikings entering the fourth set holding onto a 2-1 advantage over the favored NETC team. Hudson Valley took control early in the fourth set and put the Vikings in the driver's seat to claim the title with the 3-1 win.

"I'm so proud of the team," said Bob Stranahan, Head eSports Coach. "We entered the spring semester with expectations to compete with some of the best eSports programs around the country and our hard work and dedication to improve our game play has paid off by achieving the ultimate goal, winning a national championship." 

The spring 2021 semester is the first semester in which the NJCAAe sponsored championship tournaments for the Call of Duty gaming franchises. The duo team of Harris and Closson finished the regular season pool play with a 7-2 record and qualified for the postseason as the No. 5 ranked team in the eight-team playoff format. 

Harris and Closson earned a 3-1 win in the quarterfinal round and advanced to a semi-final match up with top-seeded Northeastern Technical College (NETC Team 2). The Vikings eventually advanced to Friday's championship round with a 3-1 win over the nation's top Warzone program.

"I coached Eli (Harris) in high school and now it has come full circle with a national championship in college," Stranahan continued. "Ryan (Closson) and Eli worked so well together to win this championship, despite only meeting each other a couple weeks prior to the start of the season in January."

The national championship is the first title for the up-and-coming Vikings eSports program and the seventh national championship in the history of Hudson Valley athletics. The Vikings hold NJCAA national championships in women's bowling (2010, 1995), men's ice hockey (2001), men's cross country (1996), women's basketball (1993) and women's alpine skiing (1977).